About

After gestating for a year or so in the mind of Cory Brown, Absolutely Kosher Records was officially launched in early 1998 with the release of P.E.E.'s The Roaring Mechanism. We set out to release great records with an eye towards diversity on the roster inspired by some of our favorite labels (notably Matador, Merge, and Simple Machines), while at the same time, trying to maintain the label-next-door feel of the amazing Shrimper Records (though plenty of other labels provided different forms of inspiration). The label started in a corner of the living room in San Francisco, moved into a garage in Berkeley and now resides in an office in Emeryville, a small city just over the Bay Bridge from San Francisco that is also home to CG Animation titans Pixar, a host of great food trucks and Rudy's Can't Fail Cafe, the diner owned by Mike Dirnt of Green Day. Our humble offices are under the Powell Street overpass, along Horton Street.

Demo Policy:

We are not currently accepting demos at this time.

Internships and Job Opportunities

We are not currently hiring or offering internships.

The Jewish thing:

The label's founder, Cory Brown, is Jewish and chose to give the label a distinctly Jewish name, but also one that doesn't take itself too seriously. He believes the contributions of Jews both in popular music as well as in the industry are vastly overlooked for many reasons from simple ignorance to assimilation to anti-Semitism, not to mention reticence of the Jews themselves to be identified as such. It's no crusade, but he felt the need to stand up and be counted in this regard. Absolutely Kosher Records is not a "Jewish Music" label per se nor does one need to be Jewish in order to work at the label or be on the roster. Conversely, in spite of shared initials and some appreciation from afar, we have nothing to do with the lovely soldiers of Christ over at Asthmatic Kitty Records. There has been a planned compilation of bands with Jewish musicians for some time now, but pursuing bands for comp tracks can take some time. The comp is titled Ear of the Yenta (in homage to Soo Yung Park's influential Ear of the Dragon compilation of Asian-American/Canadian bands). If you are an established band who'd like to participate, please inquire with Cory.

Distribution:

We are currently distributed by RED music under the Spindle Music label group. Our digital distribution is handled by the lovely folks at IODA. Retailers who are interested in getting in touch regarding our distribution or carrying our releases and merchandise should contact cory at spindlemusic dot com.